On Friday Honeywell’s Metropolis Planet began its “front end” operations, which Honeywell Spokesman Peter Dalpe said is an important step toward resuming normal operations.

In a letter to employees, Plant Manager Larry Smith said the Metropolis Works is marking a significant milestone in its work to upgrade the safety of the plant with the restart of the operations.

Smith says in the letter the front-end operations includes ore preparation work and green salt production. “We have all worked very hard to get to this point, and this is an important step to get us back to a normal operating environment,” he writes.

“We are still awaiting final NRC approval to start the “back end” of our process and begin producing UF6. We now anticipate that the NRC will complete their review and issue restart decision in early July. All upgrade work at the plant was completed on schedule and the plant has re-staffed as needed to restart operations,” explained Dalpe.

“While we are restarting the plant during the coming days and weeks, it’s extremely important to maintain a sharp focus on safety,” Smith says in the letter.

“I am hopeful that I can announce our full production restart in the very near future,” said Smith.